Come for the Fall; Stay for the Food, Wine and Festivals

This fall has been full of some extraordinary culinary events, and there's a whole bunch more where that came from!

International Oktoberfest, October 12-13, 2013, welcomes fall with the celebration of German cuisine, brews, and entertainment at the Newport Yachting Center overlooking the harbor. Visit the Biergarten to taste seasonal and international brews along with other American favorites. Sink your teeth into beloved brats, schnitzel, sauerbraten, potato pancakes and more German cuisine. Listen to traditional German music all weekend long in a fall celebration and reunion of family and friends. This year, organizers are touting Sunday as the designated family-oriented day. www.newportwaterfrontevents.com

The Bowens Wharf Seafood Festival, October 19-20, 2013, celebrates autumns bounty with seafood dishes and live music celebrating Newports Harvest of the Sea. Local restaurants and fishermen prepare their best dishes under colorful tents around the wharf accompanied by live folk, Celtic, sea-shanty, and blues music all weekend long. Spirits, soft drinks, and desserts are all available, as well as seating throughout the wharf. Come and enjoy many local restaurants most prized lobster dinners, clam chowders, stuffies, clam cakes, shrimps, scallops, raw oysters, and even some landlubber-friendly dishes. www.bowenswharf.com

A Taste of Bristol and Beyond, October 20, 2013, will feature more than 40 restaurants, caterers, wineries and breweries at historic Linden Place. Guests will enjoy gourmet samplings in the fabulously decorated ballroom and tented gardens of this magnificent estate. The natural beauty of Linden Place mansion and gardens will be enhanced, for guests, by some of New Englands top floral and event designs companies while Rockin Soul Horns will provide entertainment in the garden tent. www.lindenplace.org/events.html

The Newport Food Truck Festival on October 26, 2013, will be the last stop in the largest group of consecutive food truck festivals to hit the Northeast. Produced by The Food Truck Festivals of New England, the festival features more than two dozen trucks dishing out everything from gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches and ethnic food to whoopee pies. foodtruckfestivalsofne.com

Theres no better time enjoy New England's local flavor than during Newport Restaurant Week, November 1-10, 2013. Enjoy more than 50 restaurants offering three-course $16 lunches and three-course $30 dinners as well as the opportunity to sample new seasonal dishes prepared by the most talented chefs from Newport and Bristol Counties. Cooking classes, walking tours, and lodging packages will also be available in conjunction with restaurant meals. www.discovernewportrestaurantweek.org